Joy Kirr is a middle school teacher, author, and speaker. Her 7th grade ELA (English Language Arts) classes are working to improve their lives through student-directed learning - without marks throughout the year. This is a log of their learning experiences... Want to have her speak with your staff or facilitate a workshop? Here is Joy's PORTFOLIO.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Genius Hour - Explained

WHY
do we have Genius Hour in our classroom?

I was in my third year in the reading/writing classroom.

I needed something besides what had “always been done.”

I couldn’t keep giving students fabricated projects to turn
in when they finished a book each quarter.

I needed students to read more than four books a year – if
they were even reading that many! Many students can get by completing the
project without reading the book, and both the student and I do more work when
the true goal has been averted.

I have three people to thank for their influence on how I do
Genius Hour today:

I wanted to change the way I approached independent reading
in my classroom. Discussions with peers during a workshop in Michigan led by
Ewan McIntosh gave me the WHY – Students will learn more when it’s driven by
their passions. Students can find problems, and work towards solving them. This
learning needs to be individual – and I need to make sure I conference with
students to find out where/how I can help them succeed.

While in Boston, learning Erin Olson’s story of her 11th
grade literature students in Iowa, gave me more of the WHY – If students are
inspired by what they read, they will act on what they feel. Erin had me
tearing up, thinking of what students could do if inspired enough.

I then read The BookWhisperer, by Donalyn Miller, which helped me figure out more of the HOW. I
now have a reading log that fits what I’m doing, my classroom library is
organized by genre, and I truly believe students will be reading many more
books this year!!! This year I have implemented a few simple motivation
strategies that came from her book, and other ideas I’ve already been using
were justified.

I started building my Twitter PLN in February of 2012. These
two innovative educators both taught 7th grade and started a Twitter
chat the first Wednesday of each month - #geniushour. I didn’t know what it
was, but I jumped in one night. Ahhh – I’d found the name for what I wanted to
do! Thank you Gallit & Denise!

It is Bec Spink who introduced me to KustomNote, which syncs
with Evernote. Oh, has this been a time-saver! I was already familiar with
Evernote, so I asked her for her conferencing template. She readily shared,
then I modified it to fit my conferences with students. When I sit down with
students now, I have something to lead me through the conference. I have
changed the conference as the few weeks have gone by – I now have one template
for our first and second conference, and another for subsequent conferences. I
have used Denise Krebs’ idea of having students grade themselves, and found
last week that they’re harder on themselves than I would be! The notes students
and I type into KustomNote are immediately sent to my Evernote notebooks. The
next time students and I meet, I have them pull up their stack of notes, and we
can see how we’ve progressed.

HOW
does Genius Hour look in our classroom in September?

Right now, Genius Hour looks like independent reading.
Students are reading, and I’m conferencing with them one-on-one, each Monday
(or first day of the week). Students read, log their books, and share them
somehow. Sharing could be as simple as writing a book review on their blogs,
giving a short book talk to the class. Sharing could also mean making
something. (Billy tried to make a zip line in class, after reading a short book
about gravity.)

My original goal: READ. My ultimate goal is still this: Read. Be inspired.
Act on it.

During one-on-one conferences, I ask students where they are
in their reading (finished with one book… starting another… stuck choosing a
book…etc.). I ask many questions – Did you like the last book? What type of
book are you looking for? What do you want to learn about? I use the notes from
the last few times we’ve met to guide my questions for each session. I also use
the interest survey they filled out at the start of the year to guide them to
certain book genres, topics, or titles, if students are having difficulty choosing
a book. One-on-one conferences are vital – they will help me help students read
books in various genres, and hopefully get to our ultimate goal – act on
inspiration gleaned from a book!

It is at this time that students reflect on their last two
weeks, and set a new two-week goal for the upcoming weeks. Each student is
different, and needs to be challenged. They know what they can do in two weeks,
and I encourage them to set the goal to something that is manageable, but also
not too easy. I keep reminding myself of my first goal – READ. If they are
reading at the very least 20 minutes a night, I’m happy!

What
do I DREAM Genius Hour to be?

I believe Genius Hour can look similar to how it started to
look towards the end of my first half-year… One student reads about bullying,
and creates a presentation that should be made in front of the entire school.
Two more read about the Warsaw camps in Poland, and tell the class about them.
Another reads a book about magic tricks, and puts on a show for us. I also
believe it can look like Erin’s class – one of her students read The LastLecture, by Randy Pausch, and it inspired her to make blankets for babies
in the NICU.

I would love for students to read what is important to them,
and then act on this. I will role model somewhat, of course! After having read EveryDay by David Levithan, I wrote to him, asking him to not write a sequel, as
I think that this one book should stand alone, it is that good. I also share
each book I finish with students, and read the books they suggest. I’ve shared
with them how a fiction book, North of Beautiful, by Justina Chen, got
me interested in geocaching. I dream that students will pursue their passions
during Genius Hour… by reading books that appeal to them, not books I have
chosen. My hope is that Genius Hour encourages students to become lifelong readers
and learners…

Here is a sneak peak at what geniuses we have already in our classroom (Kyle's contraption for the Cardboard Challenge)...

3 comments:

Thank you for taking the time to share your journey. I have yet to start genius hour but plan to this year. I have also been trying to think of how to help my students become more interested in reading - to find a passion for reading. You have me thinking that maybe this is the route I could go this year with my genius hour. Incorporating the idea of discovering our passions along with focussing on the importance of being a reader may be the perfect fit for me. You continue to inspire me with what you do and the passion you have for this professional. I am thrilled to be a part of your PLN!

Hi Joy,I missed the last GH on Twitter. What did I miss? It sounds as if you're happy with your GH so far. That's great!! Could you share with me your conferencing template. That sounds like something I could use to spice up my conferencing with students. It's hard to keep up with my PLN during school, and that's really when I need it!! Your post shows your enthusiasm and I'm so happy for you!

I haven't done GH yet but my students are reading every day in class and most are reading at home. I'm very pleased with the progress of all of my students...even my RR's. They're not super consistent yet, but they're much better than they were before.

I even had one of my RR's say in another class that he's now a reader. YIPPEE!!!Have a good week.

Thanks for sharing Joy! I am excited to do genius hour with my kids...and a bit nervous! I like how you have focused it around reading, but I like your "dreams" for genius hour too. I want to focus on having students ask good questions that lead to meaningful Inquiry. I am not entirely sure how to guide that process, but I'm going to give it a go tomorrow!

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Join teachers across the world on Twitter the first Thursday of every month at 8:00 pm CST. Check out the LiveBinder with information for parents and teachers, follow the hashtag #geniushour to find out what it's all about, or see the wikispace created by "in-genius" teachers at http://geniushour.wikispaces.com/.

Fast read that gets you into the story right away. Great for reluctant readers and for those who either get great grades and like leadership roles, or those who are suspended every now and then. When I gave a book talk on this one, I had...

Wow. Yes, there was mature language. Yes, it's a tough situation. But YES - kids need to read this book. I've purchased it for my "mature" shelf and told kids they should read it. Then we all need to learn from it.

I was bored the first half of the book. I really didn’t care to read about four spoiled teens on their island each summer. Cady wanted to find out what had happened her 15th summer there, and I sort of didn’t really care. I stuck with it...

Not my favorite. I almost abandoned it. The ending, although corny and lesson-ridden, might have been worth me sticking with it. I liked the lessons Colin, Hassan, and Lindsey learn. For mature readers.